Some People are Worth Sneezing For
by SnowyCrocus
Summary: Elsa has a hard time denying Anna anything- even cats, though she's allergic to them.


It all started out in the gardens.

A fluffy, white ball of fur ambling about through the rose bushes - Anna simply couldn't resist.

She scooped it up immediately, squealing with glee as its little nails scrabbled to gain purchase in her arms to jump out from her imprisoning grip.

"Kristoff, _look!"_ She exclaimed. "Look how cute! And _fluffy!"_

It _was_ cute, Kristoff had to admit. He scratched under the cat's chin- Sven liked when he did that, too.

"It's funny," he said, "I've been seeing a lot of cats and kittens around Arendelle lately. The docks, the city center, out in the woods…it must be breeding season."

The look on Anna's face made him regret his words- he knew what was coming from those wide blue eyes, her mouth hanging open.

" _More?!"_ She exclaimed. "What're we doing? Let's go find some cats!"

" _Anna,_ " Kristoff started, trying to make her look before she leapt, for once. "Let's think about this. Can you keep animals in the castle? Will Elsa _let_ you keep animals in the castle?" 

"First off," she began, "they're _cats,_ or _pets,_ not _animals."_ Kristoff rolled his eyes. "Secondly, of course Elsa would let me keep them! She loves animals!"

"She does?"

"Well, uh, yeah! Yeah, sure she does! Why _wouldn't_ Elsa love animals?"

And so it began- Anna dragged Kristoff around the city of Arendelle to show her where he had been seeing all the cats and kittens recently. They'd scoop them up, one by one, and take them back to the castle, where Anna instructed some serving girls to give them some milk and meat and let them have the run of the place.

By the time they were done, they had procured ten of the furry animals and it was already well past dinner time. Exhausted from their chase throughout the day, the two settled down in Anna's room with some of the kittens they picked up earlier and made themselves a picnic on the bed to refuel.

"So…," Kristoff began, running his hands over one of the calico cats who purred contentedly, "when're you going to ask Elsa about this?"

"You mean when am I going to _tell_ Elsa," Anna started, looking up from tickling the tummy of a small orange kitten that was probably a runt. "I'm a princess you know, I don't have to get my older sister's permission for everything - I have the right to make royal decisions and decrees too!" She stuck her nose up in the air to feign importance. Kristoff rolled his eyes.

"Yeah ok, we'll see about that."

"I'll let her know tomorrow when I see her, whenever that may be."

As it turned out, the sisters wouldn't meet again until dinner the next night, which Elsa found herself looking forward to immensely after a day full of never-ending paperwork and research and tiresome meetings. Such as this one, with the Swedish diplomat.

He was overall pleasant, at least. Intelligent and honest, unlike most she met with. She actually found in herself the desire to impress him, for once. She _wanted_ their countries to work together and she had to do her very best to make him want to trade with her people. Good impressions, and all.

Unfortunately, she was quite afraid that there wouldn't be a good impression of her to be had, regardless of how hard she tried. And _oh,_ how she tried!

But there was an unrelenting tickle spreading up the back of her throat and into her nose and it was _merciless._ She tried to clear her throat without being too obvious, and was wiggling her nose and flaring her nostrils to ward off the burning sensation that had been growing steadily for the past half hour without looking like she had facial tics. She didn't think she was succeeding.

"Your majesty, are you alright?"

 _Nope- definitely not succeeding._

She swiped a hand at her nose and sniffed surreptitiously. "Yes, I'm sorry, I'm fine. Please, continue."

As the Swede continued to list potential items to trade and for what rates he'd consider an exchange, Elsa found she could no longer focus on his words. The prickling was growing stronger, and she knew that soon enough she'd break out into a sneezing fit- and worse, a small snowstorm to boot.

She pressed a few fingers under her nose, rubbing , but the contact just seemed to make it worse. She just barely had enough time to twist her body away from the diplomat and lift her arm to sneeze into her elbow.

" _HehTSHOO! Aaatshoo!"_ She took a few hitching breaths, eyes watering. Why here, why now?! _"Hah-eh-ehTSHOO!"_

She continued with two more fits, almost laughing at the fact that Anna was right after all- she _did_ sneeze in threes, apparently. Her eyes were watering from the exertion and she couldn't make out the diplomat's face over her outburst.

At least she hadn't sprayed him- but unfortunately he was covered in a light dusting of snow from her fit. Elsa's cheeks flushed darkly as she took in the scene of the room. 

"I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed, quickly waving a hand to remove all traces of snow. "I must be coming down with a cold." She excused herself briefly to pull herself together before finishing their discussion. Throughout the remainder of the meeting, she continued to attempt to hide the endless tickling she was feeling, though ever since her sneezing she felt her irritation was only growing stronger. How could she be coming down with another cold _already?_ Anna's birthday was only three months ago!

After a quick stroll outside after her last meeting, Elsa was feeling much better in the cool air. Maybe it wasn't a cold, after all, and just a passing irritation? Whatever it was, she would just enjoy her meal with Anna and Kristoff and see how she felt in the morning. It's not like a Queen could take a sick day, anyway.

"So, Elsa, I have some exciting news!" Anna began at the dining table.

Exciting for Anna didn't always mean exciting to Elsa, so she awaited her sister's pronouncement with baited breath. "Alright, which is?"

"You and I are the proud owners of the ten newest royals!" She exclaimed.

Kristoff met Elsa's confused stare with a smirk and a shake of his head. "Anna, tell her what you really mean."

"Ok, ok, jeez! We're cat mommies, Elsa! Kristoff and I found ten yesterday and brought them back with us to the castle to live!"

Elsa froze, startled. "Cats?"

"Yes, aren't you listening? Cats! They were all alone and abandoned out there with no one to feed them or play with them. So now we'll be their family! Oh, and half of them are kittens, too, Elsa- they're SO adorable! There's even a little orange one that's a runt and I've been feeding him from a bottle, and there's one that's so big and fluffy and-"

" _Anna._ " Elsa interrupted, her hands curling in her napkin. "I'm sorry, but they can't stay. I'm allergic to cats."

" _What?!_ Since when?"

"Since I was a child at least," Elsa explained. "When I was…eleven?" She squinted, trying to remember, "Mama and Papa brought me a kitten in my room to keep me company."

She sighed and smiled wistfully at the memory. "I _loved_ that ball of fur. I finally had someone to play with and when it got cold he would just snuggle up to me. But after a few hours it was clear that I couldn't keep him. I just couldn't stop sneezing and I just felt so ill. I don't really remember much besides that it was more than a full day before Mama and Papa had time to come back to visit me-" she held a hand over her mouth in what seemed like horror and laughter that started bursting out of her- "they said when they came in I was as red as a tomato!"

Anna's eyes grew big as saucers- what had she done?

"I thought maybe I would grow out of it, but apparently I didn't - that explains earlier."

"Earlier?" Kristoff and Anna parroted.

"Yes- I kept sneezing all through my meeting with the Swedish diplomat. I thought I had caught a cold again!"

" _Damn,"_ Anna replied, her face falling at Elsa's confession and rolling her eyes when Elsa warned her about her language. "I'm sorry, Elsa. I had no idea you had allergies. Guess we're still learning about each other, huh?"

Elsa's face fell at Anna's dejected expression. The redhead had rested her head in her hand with her elbow on the table, smooshing her cheek as she pouted. "Kristoff and I will take them somewhere else tonight. We can find good homes for them, right?" She asked Kristoff, her eyes pleading for something hopeful.

"Sure," Kristoff responded, nodding. We can keep them at my place for now, or in the stables until we can find a home for them. Or, you know, just return them to where we found them..."

"No!" Anna shouted, nearly rising from her chair in concern. "We're rescuing them! They need a home! We're not sending them back into the wild with no one to fend for them."

"Anna, they're _cats_ , they don't need a human to fend for them," Kristoff shot back.

"Anna, wait." Elsa bit her lip. Having the pets clearly made her sister happy. And who was she to take away her sister's happiness- _again?_ It would be selfish of her to make Anna get rid of the cats just because it made her uncomfortable. She loved seeing the excitement on Anna's face - how happy she was to have something to care for and cuddle. Her sister had such warmth and love- it was time to let her share it with others. Maybe there was some kind of solution that would work for both of them.

"Maybe...maybe you can keep them. We can make it work."

" _What_?" Anna furrowed her eyebrows, shaking her head at her sister's words. "No, Elsa, you're allergic - like _really_ allergic, it sounds like. I'm not going to make you suffer!"

Elsa tapped her fingers on the table, thinking. "Well, let's try to make this work. We'll keep all the doors closed of the rooms that I frequent so the cats can't get in. I can ask some of the girls to clean more often to get rid of the dander and fur. If I don't come into contact with them much and those areas are cleaned, maybe it won't be so bad."

"Are you _sure?"_

Elsa hummed, wondering if her suggestions would really make a difference. _But look at the hope in Anna's face!_ Yes, it would be worth it. She would make it work, somehow.

"Absolutely."

Okay, so maybe it wasn't worth it.

The very next morning, Elsa woke up and almost wished she never had.

Starting with a sneezing fit that lasted minutes but seemed like hours, she was finally able to pull herself out of bed as the sun was just barely beginning its ascent and went to clean herself up. _Handkerchiefs, where are they?_ She knew she had a stash of them somewhere...and she could already tell she was going to need her entire supply of them today.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Elsa groaned. The cats hadn't been in her room yesterday, had they? Why was she so miserable? Her nose was dripping but she was so congested after all her sneezing that sniffling didn't even help. It even looked like her eyes might be a bit swollen.

Elsa made it to her first meeting just a few minutes late, feeling slightly better after her standard cup of tea which woke her up and soothed her throat. At least she had learned from a young age how to do her own makeup so she didn't look quite so...afflicted.

She thanked Kai as he pulled out her chair, and then began to address her council.

"Good mornig," she started. "Sorry I'b late."

 _Goodness, is_ that _what I sound like?!_ Elsa was mortified. Some of the members squinted at her in confusion at the change in her voice. But it couldn't be helped. "By apologies in advance," Elsa thickly began, to ward off the imaginations of her council, "It seebs as though I've caught another cold." She couldn't let them know she was allergic- everyone got sick, it was a natural occurrence that no one could avoid. But allergies? Well, they were for those with weak constitutions and likely unfit to wear the crown.

The meeting, overall, was a productive one. Unfortunately, the Queen was not greatly aware of their successes- she was busy fretting over making sure she didn't seem so obviously ill that her council would get up to leave her contagion.

Her voice was a great embarrassment. She knew how congested she sounded and tried not to talk much and reveal how stuffed up she was. Needless to say, she couldn't breathe through her nose anymore and was trying to control her breathing so she didn't sound like a panting dog sitting at the table.

Her eyes watered at the corners, and _oh_ , how they itched! She was rubbing at them nearly as often as she brought the handkerchief up to her nose, never chancing to let go of the cloth. _Heavens,_ she couldn't look like a five-year old child whose nose needed to be wiped every few minutes! 

But the prickling sensation from yesterday was back, and with a vengeance. Up her throat, into her nasal passages, it tickled like someone was waving a feather around up there.

The men's voices droned on and on like bees, and she felt their buzzing in her nose as the sensation grew stronger. She held her handkerchief to her face and pressed, hoping to relieve the itch.

But it was to no avail. She was prepared, thankfully, and stifled her first fit, turning away from the table with the handkerchief pressed firmly to her face. _Heh-nngt! Nngt! Heh-ngchoo!"_

The council stopped their discussion to wait for the Queen to be able to participate once more. But she waved a hand to indicate that they should continue- the unfortunate side effect of stifling was that her sneezing didn't alleviate the itch of the need to sneeze, and she knew it would be another minute or two until her allergies had abated enough to continue a conversation.

After two more fits, Elsa was panting to catch her breath and was losing her ability to stifle a third that was oncoming- and she could no longer concentrate on removing the snow that formed with her sneezes. The men were starting to shiver, shaking the white powder off of their shoes and brushing it off of their heads. She had to leave.

Excusing herself for a moment so she could compose herself in the hallway, Elsa headed towards the door. And there it was- a white cat, seemingly with enough fur and fluff to make a carpet. It was cleaning itself, but looked up and seemed royally pissed off to be startled by the Queen as she passed by to leave the room. _I guess Anna forgot to close the doors of the meetings rooms…thank you, dear sister._

Dread settled deep into the pit of her stomach as she came to the realization she had been afraid of- the cats simply _had_ to go.

Anna startled at the sound of a light but urgent knock on her bedroom door. She stood up, not worried for the grey kitten she had been petting, who had jumped off her lap at the knock and went to investigate by the window.

"Oh, Elsa! What're you-" Anna paused, shocked, as her sister entered her room.

Eternally prim, poised, and perfectly composed, Elsa never seemed to have a hair out of place, a blemish, or a single bit of makeup smudged. Looking at her now, however, Anna was amazed at the change that had taken place in her sister- was this the same Queen!?

A couple strands of hair had escaped her sister's perfectly tight bun, slipping down to frame her face, and some bangs had fallen in her eyes. Eyes which were glassy and bloodshot and watering. Her cheeks were almost equally pink as her eyes, and her nose had taken on an irritated shade of red. Elsa's hand was clamped tightly around a handkerchief which looked crumpled from use throughout the day.

"Anna," Elsa began, sniffling wetly, her voice thick with congestion. "I am _so, so_ sorry. But I really don't think I'm going to be alright having the cats after all. This is just getting too severe." She rubbed her eyes roughly with the heels of her palm. _Why was she_ always _ruining Anna's happiness?_

Anna reached up to brush her sister's hair back out of her eyes, and swept light fingers across the redness over her sister's cheeks and nose. Elsa immediately stepped back at the contact- her sensitive nose did _not_ want to be touched at the moment. She held the handkerchief to her face tightly and turned her back to Anna while she sneezed relentlessly and stumbled over to a chair to sit. Anna, meanwhile, scooped up the grey kitten and gently took it out of the room and shut the door. She returned to her sister to wait until she recovered.

"Elsa, _I_ am so sorry- _you_ have nothing to be sorry for!" She looked sympathetically at her sister and rubbed her back. "I'm going to go find Kristoff right now and we'll take the cats to the stables until we can find more homes for them."

"Thanks Anna," Elsa responded, and once again apologized. "Maybe we can get you some fish instead?" She teased.

"Oh, _great_ , thanks, Elsa. Fish would be _loads_ of fun!" Anna stuck her tongue out at her sister. "Now, go! Off to bed with you, or get washed up, or whatever you need to do. Leave it to me and Kristoff to take care of the cats. You'll be as good as new in no time!"

 _I sincerely hope so,_ Elsa thought, retiring to her room to wash her face and hopefully sleep off some of her symptoms.

Entering her bedroom, the very first thing Elsa saw was the teeny orange kitten curled up in a ball right on her pillow. _Of course._ She rolled her eyes, anxiously approaching the head of the bed, where she lifted up the corner of the pillow with just her fingertips until the kitten began sliding off.

"C'mon now, shoo!" Elsa waved her hands and handkerchief at the animal. It looked up at her piteously, mewing adorably. "Ugh, why do you have to be so _cute?!"_ The precious orange furball still on the bed butted its head into her waist in response. Elsa tried to back away but it jumped down from the bed and continued to brush up against her ankles.

"No, no, _please_ don't do that..." The tickling sensation in her nose was starting to build again. She moved her feet, trying to push the creature towards the door, but it continued its pleading mews for attention.

"Gosh, you're just like Anna - just wants to play and won't leave me alone!" Elsa smiled despite her growing discomfort. "Come to think of it, you two have the same hair color..." She bent down to examine the color of the kitten's fur- it _was_ just about identical with that of her sister.

The close quarters triggered a sudden sneeze, and Elsa stumbled back to find a new handkerchief. Turning around, she went to wave away the snow she unintentionally had summoned, but froze in place when she saw the sight in front of her.

The little kitten was rolling around in the snow on her bedroom floor! He was clearly enjoying himself, covering his bright fur in the white dustings of powder. _Once again, just what Anna would do,_ Elsa thought.

Giggling at the kitten's antics, Elsa summoned a small cube of ice in front of his paws. The kitten stood up, curious, and sniffed the piece of ice. Then he licked it - it moved! It was like a toy- he began batting the ice cube around the room with his paws, running as fast as he could to keep up with the sliding across the hardwood floor.

Elsa's laughter grew stronger- he was adorable! She thought the children of Arendelle enjoyed her snow, but _this_ reaction was something else entirely.

Internally, she sighed. Oh, how she would love to play with this kitten every day with her magic like this! But just like with her magic, her body had betrayed her once more.

Could there be a way to make this work? Maybe, just maybe...

There were currently ten cats in the castle, according to Anna - what if there was just one? Would she have one-tenth of the allergies? She could probably deal with that, in exchange for this adorable kitten that was the animal equivalent to her sister.

Watching the orange cat pounce on the ice cube, waggling its tail, Elsa came to her decision. She'd try this out - just give it _one_ more chance. Anna always tried everything she could for Elsa. So Elsa would do the same- especially for this ball of fur that _also_ had lots of love to give.

 _One week later..._

Anna approached Elsa's study, plate of chocolates in hand. Elsa had been cooped up all day in meetings and paperwork- it was time to make her sister take a break. Anna reached up a hand to knock on the door - and paused, letting her hand fall, when she heard noises coming from inside. She placed her ear up against the door.

Elsa was giggling, more unrestrained than Anna had ever heard her before.

"That's right, get it! Get it! You can do it!" Elsa suddenly burst out into laughter, clapping her hands at whatever was going on inside the room. Anna heard some rustling of papers, the scrape of a chair being scooted back along the floor.

"'C'mere you- does that tickle? Yeah, you like that?"

There was a sharp intake of breath, followed by a long pause and then, as she had grown accustomed to hearing lately from this room, the beginning of a desperate fit of sneezing from within. That was when Anna chose to enter, announcing her presence with a knock- if Elsa could hear it over her own ruckus.

The floor was littered with ice cubes for Elsa's new buddy, whom she had named Ani after his human look-alike, Anna. The orange kitten was in Elsa's lap, struggling to climb up her shoulder as she hunched over sneezing.

Elsa had deemed her allergies worth it for this one kitten, she explained to Anna – who was so like Anna herself, apparently. Elsa had made strict instructions that Ani was only to be permitted in her study at times she asked – the rest of the time she brought him out into the gardens where he could come and go as he pleased. Something had made him want to stay nearby for Elsa, however- whenever she wanted her kitten she just had to go outside and summon some snow or ice and the kitten came pouncing, ready to play.

Elsa had pockets for handkerchiefs sewn into all of her dresses, and there was a washbasin that had been brought in so that she could wash her hands and face after playing with Ani.

Plopping down next to her sneezing sister on the floor, Anna picked some cat hair off the chocolate – _How is it covered in fur already? I just brought it in! –_ and beamed at Elsa when shewas ready for conversation.

"I think Ani wants to build a snowman."


End file.
